I'm writing to tell you that effective immediately, I am resigning from my position as Managing Editor of Strumpette.

This has been a arduous and rather painful decision. As some of you are aware, I've wrestled with the thought of it for months. But now it's time.

Practically speaking, I fought the good fight. I've variously made my points. Together, we've exposed a few frauds and killed countless sacred cows. Together, we've done something PR professor Bill Sledzik describes as "historic." A little hyperbole perhaps but I do know we have made it safer to rail against the hypocrisy in our business.

BUT now I am tired; and now regrettably, I seem to spend all my time revisiting the same battles previously won. I spend all my time trying to keep the Web's rising tide of small literal minds at bay. As you can imagine, it's overwhelmingly tedious and exhausting. All while the largest association of our profession is spending BIG MONEY on a veritable reenactment of "The Masque of the Red Death"!

In describing PRSA's upcoming international conference, my dear friend and colleague Toni Muzi Falconi said, "More than 100 professional development sessions, 10 pre-conference seminars, 16 industry specific dinners and many other events, all designed to titillate thousands of society members and inevitably impede any serious attempt to debate the future of our profession, the major challenges it is facing and, more specifically, the role that associations should be developing in this delicate transition towards a new relevance in an increasingly hostile social environment." Indeed.

Like I said, it's time. It's time to take the brush away from the easel. In the year and a half since my inaugural post, together we've left a footprint. Hell, we've created our own color! Together we created a brand that promises to continue to resonate and inspire others to question; others to potentially step up and take the reins. Anyway, that's my hope.

Lastly, thank you for having given me this opportunity. I have enjoyed working with all of you and will always cherish your kindness, love and support.

Strumpette Editor Resigns - Changing PR?
Amanda Chapel, the nom de plume of the managing editor of Strumpette, a site that seeks to change the way PR has been done by exposing many of the inside tricks and ethical issues, has resigned.... http://strumpette.com/archives/612-STRUMPETTE-EDITOR-CALLS-IT-QUITS.html Foremski's Take: PR won't change until it has to.

Strumpette&#8217;s Amanda Chapel Calls It Quits
In announcing her departure as lead voice on Strumpette, the artist previously known as Amanda Chapel says she’s tired, and has made a difference in the fight against hypocrisy in public relations.
The anonymous author, whose favorite target was ...

Wily E Coyote: Public Relations Industry Running on Thin Air
Strumpette and Amanda Chapel tried to stir up changes in the PR industry by openly discussing ethical issues, all the unpleasant aspects of knowing how the sausage is made.... The future for startups is this: you are going to have to have a viral marketing and distribution strategy without paying tens of thousands of dollars per month to PR companies.

One PR man’s sordid affair with Amanda&nbsp;Chapel
A few online friends have asked for the “real story” of my no-so-secret love affair with Amanda Chapel, aka, Strumpette. Most of those calling me out are devotees of Web 2.0 – a PR practice niche we’ve all celebrated in our blogs. Sin...

When they write the modern history of PR, Strumpette deserves a chapter. I say you made history in that you forced us -- at least those of us who were listening -- to reflect on where this business is headed. And the forecast isn't a pretty one. In fact, our future is beginning to look like the profile of Amanda Chapel herself, a little sleazy and a lot self-serving. But you knew that when you wrote it, didn't you?

In Philadelphia next week (PRSA's national conference) the discussion will center on how we can boost fees and expand services to clients. Little will be said about where the profession is going or whom it is serving. What is PR's real value to clients and to society? Not enough of us are asking these questions. And now there's one fewer.

Oh no! who will keep us honest? who will keep us amused? who will give me a new perspective. We need Strumpette -- I say we follow the monks in Burma and the lawyers in Pakistan and take to the streets of Philadelphia..

I cross fingers and hope this is another of your paradoxic and games, always attracting and demanding my attention like no other source whithin our global professional community...
toni muzi falconi
(but, god forbid, if truly serious -and even if not- I would be honoured and proud to invite you to contribute to our cooperative blog...what do you say?).

There was some sort of habit of logging onto Strumpette after checking emails every morning. It was more than coffee, it was more than Perez Hilton - it was, and is, my dose of PR reality when everyone else clouded the reality of our work, or job, our career.

Pseudonym or not, real or fake, Amanda has been, and is, the biggest ambassador in the PR industry of all we aim to be: real, unbiased and brash.

I hear there are new openings at Medill which are right up your alley... and we all know Levine needs a revolutionary on staff if he's to deliver that 2020 target. Give him a ring, or a nudge, or a splatter, or whatever it's called these seconds. I'll bet he'll let you teach via webinar.

You have retired more times than rapper JayZ and boxer George Foreman. Please reconsider your decision. You've thrown in the towel before, only to come back stronger than ever. Strumpette without you is like Newscorp without Rupert. (Or O'Dwyer's without Jack). Your readers need you. Let's hope it's a short retirement. Take a vacation, and come back full force.

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